The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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Mail and Guardian

Mugabe must 'exit politics'

      Harare

      02 July 2003 16:29

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader on Wednesday called on President Robert
Mugabe to step down, echoing a similar call made recently by the US
government.

Mugabe must "exit from active politics in Zimbabwe," said Morgan Tsvangirai,
head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in a statement.

He said the MDC, formed four years ago, "welcomes and fervently supports all
regional, continental and international efforts to chart a peaceful course
towards the resolution of the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe".

His comments come days before a high profile visit to Africa by US President
George Bush, and an African Union summit in neighbouring Mozambique.

Earlier the MDC said it was sending its officials to South Africa and
Mozambique to lobby international leaders on the situation in Zimbabwe.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Mugabe to leave office and
said the subject of Zimbabwe will be high on the agenda during Bush's July
8-9 visit to South Africa.

Tsvangirai called for resumption of dialogue between his party and the
ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front.

He made a series of demands, including restoration of the rule of law, the
removal of strict press and security laws and an end to what he termed
"state-sponsored violence".

"It is in the context of this demonstration of sincerity by the regime that
dialogue can meaningfully begin," the MDC leader said.

Tsvangirai has rejected Mugabe's victory in last year's disputed
presidential poll. The opposition party blames the government for severe
social and economic hardships as well as political tensions gripping the
country. - Sapa-AFP
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Business Day

MDC to ask global leaders to pressurise Mugabe

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HARARE - The main opposition party in Zimbabwe is to send senior members to
South Africa and Mozambique to urge international leaders to put pressure on
President Robert Mugabe's government to engage in talks, an official said
Wednesday.
Paul Themba Nyathi, spokesman of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
told AFP his party was sending delegates to South Africa to hopefully meet
with US officials during George W. Bush's visit to that country next week.

He said a second delegation would travel to the Mozambique capital Maputo to
lobby leaders during the African Union summit that begins there on July 4.

The MDC spokesman said the party's objective would be "to bring pressure on
the Mugabe regime to get to the negotiating table".

The MDC wants to hold unconditional talks with Mugabe's government about the
various crises gripping the country.

But Mugabe has said he will only talk to the opposition party if they
recognise his victory in a disputed presidential poll last year, in which
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai put up a stern challenge to his now 23-year
hold on power.

Zimbabwe is in the grip of severe food, fuel and currency shortages. Annual
inflation is at more than 300% and around 70% of the country's workforce is
unemployed.

Nyathi said the MDC wanted to address international leaders, journalists and
government officials so that they gain an "appreciation and understanding of
the situation in Zimbabwe".

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Mugabe to leave office. He
said the subject of Zimbabwe will be high on the agenda during Bush's July
8-9 visit to South Africa.

But a senior ruling party official in Zimbabwe was quoted in Wednesday's
edition of the private Daily News as saying that, if the MDC had any
problems, it should approach them and not seek foreign intervention.

"Our differences are not going to be ironed out in foreign lands," said
Didymus Mutasa, the secretary for external affairs in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
African National Union ? Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

"Maybe they (the MDC) first want to seek permission from their American
handlers," he said.

The government consistently accuses the West of supporting the MDC. It
accuses the opposition party of working with countries like the US to effect
a "regime change" in the southern African nation.

AFP


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Analysis: Bush heads to troubled Africa
By Richard Tomkins
UPI White House Correspondent
Published 7/2/2003 9:29 AM
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WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush casts a long-delayed
gaze at Africa next week with a weeklong, five-nation swing through to
promote democracy and economic development, banner U.S. efforts to combat
AIDS and offer support for African efforts to resolve major conflicts on the
continent.

Most pressing of the conflicts -- and the one bringing the most pressure to
bear on Washington -- is Liberia, where President Charles Taylor has fought
a 3-year battle with rebel forces.

African nations, together with Britain and France, are pressing for direct
U.S. military involvement in the form of some 2,000 troops as part of an
international peacekeeping force for Liberia.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- once called Zaire and before that
the Belgian Congo -- African countries and the United Nations want U.S.
backing for an expanded peacekeeping force. At least nine countries have
taken part in the Congo's civil war over the past five years. Efforts by the
various factions, through the intervention of South Africa, are underway to
form a government of national unity.

On the other side of the continent is Zimbabwe, where President Robert
Mugabe is accused of human rights abuses and of having brought a former
British colony to the point of mass starvation.

So egregious is his rule that the British Commonwealth shuns him and
Washington bars the president and his senior officials from entering the
United States. Any assets Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials may
have had in the United States have been frozen.

South Africa, which faces a refugee influx because of the situation in
Zimbabwe, is among the countries working on a behind-the-scenes track to
resolve the economic and political turmoil in the former British colony.

Washington would like Pretoria to do more to encourage Mugabe to leave.

"It's an important visit because Africa is becoming more important (to the
United States)," Princeton Lyman, former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and
also Nigeria, told United Press International.

"We see the terrorism problem in spreading in Africa," he said, referring to
the bombings in East Africa, the attack on Israel in East Africa, and the
use of failed states in West Africa for al-Qaida to finance itself through
illicit diamonds, adding that the United States sees a growing economic
market in the continent.

"I think there is growing recognition in this administration, as in the
last, that Africa has to be an important part of our foreign relations."

Bush begins his 6 1/2-day trip Tuesday in Senegal on the west coast of
Africa. Stops in South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria follow.

Nigeria supplies the United States with oil; South Africa is a major trading
partner.

Of the countries being visited, only Uganda is not yet a full participatory
democracy although elections are slated for 2006.

Bush canceled a scheduled visit to Africa earlier this year because of the
impending conflict with Iraq.

"In 11 days I leave for Africa, and I will carry a message," Bush said last
week in outlining his Africa agenda. "And I will carry this message: The
United States believes in the great potential of Africa. We believe this can
be a decade of unprecedented advancement for freedom and hope and healing
and peace."

Administration officials said Bush will sound several recurrent themes in
his remark during his stops in Africa: the economic and emerging market
decisions governments face to increase trade and alleviate poverty; the U.S.
commitment of $15 billion in the continent's fight against AIDS; the
president's Millennium Challenge program under which poor nations making
make strides toward democracy and open markets receive economic aid;
increased trade and establishment of democracy; and crisis resolution.

"The first great goal in our partnership with Africa is to help establish
peace and security across the continent," Bush said. "The second goal of our
partnership in Africa is to make the advantages of health and literacy
widely available across the continent, and that work begins with the
struggle against AIDS, which already afflicts nearly 30 million Africans."

The third goal, Bush said, "is to help African nations develop vibrant, free
economies through aid and trade." He added, "Wealthy nations have a
responsibility to provide foreign aid. We have an equal duty to make sure
that aid is effective, by rewarding countries that embrace reform and
freedom."

The Bush administration, in addition to the AIDS program, has urged Congress
to extend the law that grants African goods greater access to U.S. markets,
and through its urging the United Nations has agreed to provide more than
$200 million over the next three years for small business loans in 10
African countries.

On Liberia, Bush is expected to listen carefully to African arguments, but
it appears unlikely direct troop involvement would be in the cards.

Walter Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said
the United States wants to be engaged in helping restore peace in Liberia,
but is keeping its options open.

"How that engagement comes about, we are still very seriously looking at and
considering," he said in remarks at the Brookings Institution this week.
"Politically and diplomatically we are engaged and will continue to remain
so."

Lyman, the former ambassador, said the idea of the United States putting
troops on the ground in Liberia would meet "a lot of resistance in the
administration."

"I think it will be hard to do so with so many troops tied down in Iraq and
other places," he said.

Bush has called for Taylor to step down in Liberia -- a country founded in
the 1800s by freed slaves from the United States -- to end the violence and
bring about reconciliation.

Bush last week also noted Africa's increasing involvement in the war on
terrorism. The 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
were said to be the handiwork of al-Qaida, which is accused of masterminding
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Al-Qaida also is believed to have been behind last year's attack on an
Israeli-owned and -frequented resort on Kenya's coast, and the simultaneous
attempt to shoot down an airliner.

Early on in the investigations of the Sept 11 bombings, it appeared al-Qaida
gained at least some of its funds through trade in diamonds mined illicitly
in West Africa.

Bush last week announced the United States would provide $100 million over
the next 15 months to help Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda and Tanzania
improve air and seaport security and improve intelligence capabilities.
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The Herald

Oil firms fail to import fuel

By Lovemore Chikova
Multinational oil companies have failed to import fuel on their own since
the industry was liberalised last year due to lack of foreign currency and
the current pump prices which they say are not viable.

A spokesman for the oil companies, Mr Stanley Njenga, said yesterday they
were negotiating with the Government to increase the pump prices.

But the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development, Cde Reuben
Marumahoko, said no such negotiations were taking place.

"I am not aware of any negotiations on prices, but what we know is that we
ordered the oil companies to procure fuel and we expect them to do so," he
said.

Mr Njenga said increasing fuel pump prices and giving preference on access
to foreign currency to the oil companies would enable them to procure the
commodity.

"We as multinational companies have been unable to do what was principally
agreed because we do not have forex," he said.

"We still ask the Government to lift the pump price for it to reflect the
costs. The companies cannot use forex bought from the parallel market and
sell at low prices."

Mr Njenga said the oil companies had set up committees to look into the
problems they face in their quest to heed the Government directive to import
their own fuel.

He said discussions were ongoing to ensure some of the problems were solved.

"We are having discussions to make sure we address issues hindering us to
fulfil what we have agreed to do," said Mr Njenga.

"Negotiations are also going on with Noczim for the oil companies to use the
oil pipeline from Mozambique."

Mr Njenga said a scheme introduced recently for companies with forex to
import fuel through the oil companies was going on well.

But the fuel procured under the deal would not benefit the public as it was
specifically meant for the companies that would have provided the foreign
currency.

There were concerns that some of the fuel imported by the companies was
being directed to the parallel market and sold at exorbitant prices of as
high as $2 000 per litre.

The Government gazetted the price of petrol in April at $450 per litre and
diesel at $200 per litre.

A few service stations in Harare were serving fuel on Tuesday following a
long dry spell.

Cde Marumahoko said Noczim was gradually releasing fuel onto the market to
avoid a dry up.

"Noczim is delivering some fuel that is in the country at the moment," he
said.

The fuel supply situation was expected to improve in the near future
following the signing of a deal between Zimbabwe and Libyan oil suppliers
recently.

The deal would result in the Libyan oil suppliers resuming fuel supplies to
the country.

The major cause of the fuel shortages is the shortage of foreign currency
that has adversely affected the procurement of the commodity from
international oil suppliers.

The shortage of fuel started in 1999, almost at the same time the country
began experiencing the shortage of foreign currency.
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MDC PRESS

2 July 2003
MDC WELCOMES ALL INITIATIVES TO RESOLVE THE ZIMBABWEAN
CRISIS

The MDC welcomes, and fervently supports, all regional, continental and international efforts designed to chart a peaceful course towards the resolution of the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe.

Since Zanu PF scuttled inter-party dialogue in April 2002, there has been no political dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF. Any assertions to the contrary are totally false.

For over three years, the Mugabe regime has sustained a programme of state sponsored violence, buttressed by draconian and unjust laws, both of which closed all the avenues for a peaceful political engagement.

The starting point for a resumption of dialogue must be an unconditional acceptance by the Mugabe regime to discharge key critical responsibilities that are associated with any de facto administration.

In this regard, the regime must immediately restore the rule of law and in particular, repeal the Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, disband the infrastructure of violence and put an end to all forms of state sponsored violence.

This must be followed by an announcement by Mugabe to exit from active politics in Zimbabwe.

It is in the context of this demonstration of sincerity by the regime that dialogue can meaningfully begin.

The MDC position on the way forward is quite clear. The issues for dialogue must be determined, shaped and conditioned by the interests of Zimbabweans and the realities of the Zimbabwean political situation.

The focus of the political dialogue must be to arrive at agreed measures designed to put in place a democratic political terrain that would facilitate the holding of a free and fair presidential poll.

Such agreed, negotiated measures, must be implemented, monitored and verified by both the MDC and Zanu PF, local, regional and international observers.

Morgan Tsvangirai
President

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Zim Standard

      State busts budget by $657 billion
      By Caiphas Chimhete

      ZIMBABWE needs about $657 billion more than what was budgeted for this
year to finance civil servants salary increases, new government cars and
other unbudgeted for expenditure, an investigation by The Standard has
revealed.

      Economic experts however say the government is broke and can only
raise that money through more taxes or by printing more money, thereby
fuelling inflation already past 300 percent.

      Investigations show that Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa will present
a $657 billion supplementary budget, which is about $113 billion less than
the 2003 national budget of $770.2 billion.

      Experts said run-away inflation - currently pegged at 300,1 percent
and rising fast-had gobbled up most of the funds allocated to ministries
during this year's budget.

      According to official government sources, Murerwa will present a
$657,770 billion supplementary budget before Parliament when it resumes
sitting on July 29. Almost half of that supplementary budget- $310,124
billion - will go towards the unbudgeted wages and salaries of civil
servants, who got hefty pay increments from July 1.

      In the proposed supplementary budget, the Ministry of Defence, which
was this year allocated $76 billion, will get an additional $5,7 billion,
while the President's Office and Cabinet which got $13,2 billion, will
gobble up an extra $$7,25 billion before year end.

      Health and education ministries, which in the 2003 national budget got
$73,4 billion and $109 billion respectively, are expected to get a
supplementary allocation of $38,1 billion and $1,4 billion respectively.

      The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has been failing to pay
Zimbabwean diplomats at foreign missions on time, will get $41,8 billion,
almost seven times more than what it was allocated in the 2003 national
budget.

      The Home Affairs Ministry, which got $49,5 billion, is expected to
receive an additional of $15,7 billion.

      President Robert Mugabe's administration has been lambasted both
locally and internationally for failing to live within its means.

      Its extravagance was recently dramatised by the purchase of 83
ministerial cars for about $4 billion dollars at a time when the State's
coffers are empty.

      Economic analysts have also accused the government of keeping interest
rates low so that it can continue to borrow internally. As of May this year,
the government's domestic debt stood at $350, 143 billion.

      Independent economic analyst, John Robertson, said the enormity of the
supplementary budget showed that the government has realised that inflation
is more than twice what it expected it to be.

      Robertson said it would be difficult for the government to fund the
supplementary budget because it has no money.

      He said Murerwa has either to increase taxes or borrow the money, "but
both options have negative effects" on the people and the economy.

      "If the government gets a loan, that will fuel inflation while on the
other side, if government increases taxes that will suppress people's
consumption," said Robertson.

      Murerwa could not be reached for comment but the Deputy Minister of
Finance and Economic Development, Chris Kuruneri, told a Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce-organised workshop on Thursday that the government would
print more money to finance the supplementary budget.

      He said as the country's economy continues to shrink, the government
has no option but to print more money.

      "With economic activities contracting, where does the money come from?
... You print it," said Kuruneri, responding to questions from the floor.
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Zim Standard

      Mugabe leaves Libya empty handed


      President Robert Mugabe has ended a visit to Libya without any clear
indication that he has won a deal to resume crucial Libyan fuel supplies.

      A statement released after three rounds of talks between President
Mugabe and the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, said they were satisfied with
the progress of co-operation - but there was no specific mention of any new
oil deal.

      Libya's state news agency Jana said the two leaders discussed African
issues and "ways of strengthening peace and stability in Africa".

      The only details available from the statement was that "experts from
the two governments, including Zimbabwe Energy and Power Development
Minister Amos Midzi, met to review the bilateral co-operation path and the
ways to reinforce that co-operation in oil and investment in various
economic fields".

      Oil industry sources however said Mugabe, who is now on a visit to
Egypt, was extending his begging bowl to Cairo after his apparent failure to
secure Libyan oil.

      There have been fuel shortages in Zimbabwe since November when the
president's previous deal with Libya broke down.

      The BBC's Southern African correspondent Barnaby Phillips says neither
government likes to give details of the previous deals they have struck, but
it is widely believed that the Libyans have been offered land, beef and
agricultural commodities in return for fuel.

      But as Zimbabwe's agricultural production declines, President Mugabe
has found it difficult to keep his side of the deal, and the Libyans have
been reluctant to carry on supplying fuel.-Reuters and Our own Staff.
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Zim Standard

      Patients' lives endangered as oxygen runs out
      By our own Staff

      ZIMBABWE'S premier public referral health institution, Harare Central
Hospital, recently ran out of oxygen putting several patients at risk in
what health experts said was one of the worst cases of negligence by
hospital authorities.

      Sources said Harare Central Hospital had to suspend all surgical
operations and some emergency cases had to be referred to Parirenyatwa
Hospitals, where the situation also went out of control as the number of
patients that needed oxygen dramatically increased.

      "Those that were seriously affected are patients that are oxygen
dependent such as those in the intensive care unit as well as children
suffering from diseases like pneumonia," said an official source. The source
said they feared some patients could have died as a result of lack of
oxygen.

      "Oxygen is something that should not run out at any hospital and the
authorities know that. Its negligence at its worst on the part of the
authorities," said the source.

      Normality only returned after BOC Gases, a local firm that supplies
oxygen to most of the hospitals and companies, was called in.

      Harare Central Hospital medical superintendent, Christopher
Tapfumaneyi, could not be reached for comment and night superintendent, a
Mrs Chimanga, said she was not in a position to comment.

      As the economic meltdown continues, Zimbabwe's public health
institutions have become some of the worst victims of the chronic shortages
of foreign currency, drugs and equipment.

      The hospitals are also reeling from lack of qualified and experienced
staff who have deserted the institutions for better pay in private practice
or abroad. Problems for the sector were recently exacerbated by the national
strike of junior doctors who are protesting over poor salaries.
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Zim Standard

      2004 tobacco crop under serious threat: experts
      By Kumbirai Mafunda

      ZIMBABWE'S tobacco crop could be jeopardised once again for the fourth
consecutive season next year following revelations that the Reserve Bank has
failed to make funds available to the Tobacco Growers' Trust (TGT) to buy
imported inputs.

      The TGT scheme was introduced by government in 2001 to assist farmers
obtain hard currency for procuring inputs such as chemicals.

      This followed growers' protestations that they were being charged high
parallel foreign currency market rates when they sought hard money to buy
the inputs outside Zimbabwe.

      Under the scheme, which is jointly administered by the country's six
tobacco associations, growers are supposed to receive from the central bank
20% of the foreign currency earned from tobacco sales during the previous
marketing season.

      However, a TGT board member disclosed to Standard Business that the
central bank had only surrendered $1,3m for financing the 2004 crop, which
is less than the 20% raised from the sale of the golden leaf this year.

      Tobacco sales as at June 17 amounted to 14,8 million kgs sold at an
average price of US190,82 cents/kg, amounting to about US$28m. From this
amount the TGT was entitled to receive about US$5,6m.

      "We should be getting money now to prepare seed beds and buy chemicals
but to date, only $1,3m has been released to TGT by the RBZ since December
last year. There is reluctance to release the money," said David Sanderman,
a member of the TGT board.

      He said the delay in disbursing the funds would lead to chemicals
being priced too high by local suppliers and this would in turn discourage
farmers from growing tobacco next year.

      Sanderman said growers were also finding it difficult to access credit
lines overseas due to Zimbabwe's risk factor because "overseas suppliers of
chemicals are wary of Zimbabwe's credit rating".

      The ZTA expects earnings for 2003 to be around US$180m, down from
US$380m earned last year. This contrasts with US$526m earned from the golden
leaf in 2000 before President Robert Mugabe's loyalists seized commercial
productive farmland.

      Output, expected to peak at a paltry 85 million kgs or less this year,
was 237 million kgs in 2000.

      Seed sales for this year's irrigated crop have already plunged by 40%,
say experts. Latest sales figures show only 52,7 kgs-compared to 59,8 kgs
last year-had been bought by the same time this year.

      The actual amount of seed that would be planted in Zimbabwe is
believed to be even lower because some commercial growers are reportedly
reselling the seed to neighbouring countries.

      "The delay in accessing inputs will divert farmers to other crops.
Growers can't see viability because of lack of inputs and the exchange rate.
So this could see a drop in output," said Duncan Millar, president of the
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA).

      Witness Chinyama, Kingdom Financial Holdings' chief economist, said a
reduction in tobacco earnings at a time other foreign exchange sources were
dry, would worsen the foreign currency situation.
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Zim Standard

      Pardoned criminals terrorise Masvingo
      By Parker Graham

      MASVINGO: CASES of housebreaking and robbery are on the increase in
Masvingo province and police blame this on hard-core criminals pardoned by
President Robert Mugabe early this year, The Standard has learnt.

      Police sources yesterday said the pardoned criminals were the ones
terrorising the Masvingo community, which had enjoyed relative peace since
the dramatic arrest of notorious criminals such as the late Stephen
Chidhumo, who was hanged three weeks ago.

      "We have records indicating that majority of the hard core criminals
terrorising Masvingo province are the ones pardoned by President Mugabe,"
said a police source.

      However, the majority of these criminals have since been arrested and
sent back to prison after they had been convicted of similar crimes.

      Masvingo crime records indicate that 1 897 cases of housebreaking and
366 cases of robbery were committed from between January and May this year,
compared to 1 595 cases of housebreaking and 248 cases of robbery the
previous year.

      "Cases of housebreaking and robbery are on the increase and I am
appealing to members of the public to report as soon as possible once they
come across such criminals committing offences," said the police source.

      The 79-year-old Pre-sident, in a Presidential amnesty, pardoned five
thousand hard core criminals early this year, but the majority of these
criminals soon found themselves back in prison after committing similar
crimes.
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Zim Standard

      New political party launched in Bulawayo
      By our own Staff

      BULAWAYO - AS the political impasse in Zimbabwe deepens, disgruntled
members from the lower ranks of the MDC and Zanu PF have formed a new
political party. The new political party, The People's Freedom Party (PFP),
was launched last week in the city centre in Bulawayo.

      The party's interim chairman Mkhuseli Hadebe, a former Zanu PF member
and a war veteran, said PFP's aim was to bring freedom to the people of
Zimbabwe.

      "People are tired of living in fear, so PFP says people must be free
to believe in what they want without being fearful," said Hadebe who leads
an executive of political lightweights.

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Zim Standard

      Rights lawyers petition Mohadi over abuse
      By Caiphas Chimhete

      THE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has petitioned the
government over increased cases of gross human rights violations on
civilians by state security agents, The Standard has learnt.

      The petition, sent to the Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi on
Thursday, deplored increased cases of arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention
and torture of civilians at the hands of state security agents.

      Arnold Tsunga, the ZLHR director, said the decision to petition the
government comes in the wake of increased cases of torture against
civilians, which flies in the face of the United Nations International day
Against Torture, which was commemorated on Thursday globally.

      In the petition, Tsunga also urged the government to ratify the
Convention Against Torture, which the government has signed but has not
ratified to enable its implementation.

      "Cases of torture and unlawful detentions continue unabated and we are
calling on the government to end this. We expressed our concern that
post-independence torture has increased," said Tsunga, whose organisation
assists victims of organised violence.

      He said he also reminded Mohadi that his ministry was primarily
responsible for the eradication of torture.

      "Mohadi himself being a victim of torture at the hands of Central
Intelligence Organisation should know how it feels to be tortured and help
stop it," said Tsunga.

      The Home Affairs Minister was detained and tortured by Mugabe's
government in 1985 when he was still a member of Zapu, which was later
swallowed by Zanu PF in what is now called the 1987 Unity Accord. Mohadi
could not be reached for comment this week.

      For the year ended December 2002, the ZLHR says that there were 1 061
recorded cases of torture, 227 abductions, 121 unlawful arrests and 111
illegal detentions.

      The ZLHR has also expressed its concern at the failure by President
Robert Mugabe to reaffirm serious commitment to the rule of law as well as
taking positive steps to ensure an end to political violence.

      In its latest report released earlier this month, Amnesty
International, has urged all African governments to publicly condemn
Mugabe's government for gross human rights violations committed on its
innocent civilians.

      Mugabe's repressive streak intensified following the defeat of the
government's draft constitution in February 2000 in a referendum. Several
people, mostly members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
were arrested and tortured during the 2000 Parliamentary elections and the
disputed 2002 Presidential poll.

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Zim Standard

      It's pointless to advise Mugabe, says Botswana


      WASHINGTON- Botswana President, Festus Mogae, said on Thursday it is
pointless to try and tell Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe what to do and
said the Bush administration should stop trying.

      On Tuesday, US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, urged southern
African countries to increase pressure on Mugabe to hand over power to a
transitional government.

      "He (US President George W Bush) should just leave it alone. Just
leave Zimbabwe on its own, it's easier," Mogae said in an interview with
Reuters.

      "We have been trying to persuade them to put their house in order. But
it hasn't happened. ... You can offer advice but if they don't take it
there's nothing you can do about it."

      Bush is set to visit Africa from July 7-12 and Zimbabwe is expected to
be on the agenda as he tours Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and
Nigeria.

      Zimbabwe is facing a severe economic crisis that critics blame on
government mismanagement, Mugabe's seizures of white-owned farms for black
resettlement and his alleged rigging of his re-election last year. Bush has
said Mugabe is not a legitimate leader.

      Earlier this year, African leaders feared their continent would
struggle to get Washington's attention and money, as the Bush administration
focused on the Middle East

      But Mogae said Bush's visit and support for initiatives like the
global health fund, set to benefit Africa, convinced him otherwise.

      "We are pleasantly surprised that in spite of the war Bush finds the
time to visit Africa," he said. "I would say that from our point of view my
fears have not materialised."

      Mogae is anxious to find out the details of the conditions for tapping
a global fund set up to fight HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

      About 39% of adults in Botswana are infected with HIV, the highest
infection rate in the world. Mogae expects the economy to grow 5-6 percent
this year and next, but that is far lower than the government's original
plan for growth of 8 percent.

      "Our economy will grow 3 percent lower than it could have done because
of HIV/AIDS," he said.

      Botswana had been on the way to achieving development indicators
similar to that of countries in the developed world, said Mogae. -Reuters.

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Zim Standard

      Zanu PF switches Mugabe rally out of Masvingo
      By Parker Graham

      MASVINGO: Increasing anger at Zanu PF in the home town of ruling party
heavyweights such as Vice President Simon Muzenda and veteran politician
Eddison Zvobgo, has forced the party to switch President Robert Mugabe's
rally set for Saturday from Masvingo city to Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam in Chivi,
official sources have said.

      Zanu PF sourcessaid the President's Office had gathered intelligence
that Mugabe, who is determined to draw large crowds wherever he goes, could
be embarrassed if he tried to address a rally in Mucheke Stadium, the
traditional venue for ruling party political rallies in the city.

      Since independence, Zanu PF has enjoyed massive support in Masvingo
province prompting Mugabe to declare it a few years ago as a "one party
province".

      However the city, which now has an MDC mayor, falls under the Masvingo
Central constituency that was snatched from the ruling party and belongs to
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC.

      The political temperature in the historic city - pre-independence
Zimbabwe's first capital city - is rising a few weeks before the crucial
August urban councils' elections, which - according to analysts - could
herald the end of Zanu PF's dominance of Masvingo's civic affairs.

      "It's true that President Mugabe is no longer coming to address a
provincial rally in Masvingo City on 5 July as planned," said a source in
the governing party.

      "However, it does not necessarily mean that President Mugabe is afraid
of urban centres as MDC supporters would want to claim. It is because he
wants to address the majority of people from rural areas who benefitted from
the land reform programme," he added.

      MDC Masvingo provincial vice chairman, Shacky Matake, however said by
switching the venue of his rally to rural Chivi - the home area of Governor
Josiah Hungwe - it was clear that Mugabe was aware that Masvingo was no
longer "the comfort zone" for Zanu PF.
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Zim Standard

      Army shooting victim relives ordeal 'The soldiers intercepted our
march and fired live shots'
      By Henry Makiwa

      LEONARD Dzigagwi chokes back tears as he recalls events leading to his
shooting by soldiers while he led a group of opposition Movement for
Democratic Change supporters who were marching from Harare's high-density
suburb of Highfield into the city centre on June 2.

      Although Dzigagwi, 36, survived the attack, he is now on crutches
because of the shooting and says the scenes of that fateful day remain
etched on his mind and are a cause of perpetual and severe trauma on his
psyche.

      The Standard last week tracked down Dzigagwi to his home in the shanty
town commonly known as "Ma PWD" section of Highfield.

      He recounted his harrowing ordeal at the hands of the security forces
during the first day of the MDC's June protest marches, dubbed "the final
push" to bring President Robert Mugabe back to the negotiating table.

      Dzigagwi, whose picture as he was piggy-backed by a colleague after
the shooting, was beamed across the globe in the media, recalled what he
described as a "diabolic experience perpetuated by a desperate regime on
unarmed civilians".

      A group of about eight youths with shifty eyes, hover around Dzigagwi
as he speaks.

      It is only after they learn that we had phoned to arrange the
interview prior to our visit that they relax and allow Dzigagwi, whom they
refer to as "Baba Lee" (Father of Lee) to talk to us. Lee himself, an
adorable fidgety little toddler, continuously nudges his father for
attention.

      "The scenes still flash in my head when I go to bed. Everything had
been planned to the last detail. We had no weapons and no one wore MDC
regalia Šwe were peaceful on our way towards the city centre to voice our
democratic rights," winced Dzigagwi, a fire wood vendor who is the MDC's
organising secretary for ward 24 in Highfield, as he narrated the events
that led to his shooting.

      "It was around 9 am. I led the way with other youths holding banners
... the entire road was teeming with people, at least 20 000 from all walks
of life in Highfield who wanted to make a public show against Zanu PF's
misgovernance. No sooner had we marched into the industrial sites towards
the city centre did all hell break loose."

      Dzigagwi said an army truck blocked their way and let loose a volley
of shots from their guns sending marchers scampering for cover.

      "The soldiers simply intercepted our march and started firing live
shots. I ran towards the blind side of their truck and heard them shouting
from behind to 'aim for the legs'. It was about then that I felt a flaming,
jarring intrusion, piercing through the outside of my left leg coming out
from the inside. I knew I had been hit."

      Dzigagwi, who narrated his ordeal from outside his wooden plank and
plastic shack that is his family home, said he kept running from the gunfire
for about 20 metres before he crept into a water drainage pipe to hide away
from the hail of bullets. He stayed hidden the next half an hour.

      "I was only rescued by a brave colleague who drew me out of the
drainage pipe and carried me home. I was now weak from the loss of blood and
was almost unconscious," he said.

      "As soon as we got home there was more commotion as soldiers, still in
hot pursuit of the marchers, ransacked every house in the neighbourhood
indiscriminately beating up everyone in sight. I survived this second wave
of violence by locking up my house and blocking my door with a wardrobe,"
Dzigagwi said.

      He however says he remains optimistic that "Zanu PF's days are
numbered" and that his suffering is part of a political struggle. He
maintains that for political change to come, someone has to bear the brunt
against the ruling party's policies of intolerance.

      "I can no longer fend for my family because I am now crippled. I did
not do anything illegal to get shot but to voice my democratic right. If
anything, I am more emboldened and have more cause to fight repression
because I am living evidence of Mugabe's violent repressive campaign as he
clings to power, " Dzigagwi said.

      The government fought the mass action in the streets, the courts and
through a propaganda blitz in the media.

      At least a thousand people were reportedly arrested countrywide for
taking part in the strike and allegedly attempting to oust a
"constitutionally elected government", but in spite of the show of force,
opposition supporters and many ordinary Zimbabweans

      , still put a dent in Zanu PF's armour and rattled Mugabe's political
arrogance.

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Zim Standard

      Zimbabwe exports plunge
      By our own Staff

      THERE will not be any respite to Zimbabwe's chronic foreign currency
squeeze as it emerged that exports to Zambia, the country's second largest
trading partner, have plummeted by about 80,4% to a pathetic US$I,8 million
in the first half of this year.

      Zambia was Zimbabwe's second largest trading partner until 2001 when a
wrangle over uneven trade practices erupted much to the detriment of Harare.
South Africa remains the biggest market for Zimbabwean goods.

      Zambia accused Zimbabwe of dumping its products onto their market and
subsequently imposed an embargo on a wide-range of Zimbabwean manufactured
consumer goods ranging from cooking oil, eggs, wheat products, milk and
cigarettes.

      This was after the Harare government had imposed price controls on
basic foodstuffs and other products, which resulted in increased regional
demand for cheap Zimbabwean consumer goods.

      ZimTrade chief executive, Freddy Chawasarira, told exporters at a
briefing on Zimbabwe-Zambia trade talks in Harare, that the slump in trade
was a major set back in the country's endeavours to increase exports.

      Government's recent economic blueprint, the National Economic Recovery
Programme (NERP), is anchored on expanding Zimbabwean exports and the
results from Zambia are a slap in the face of the planners of the recovery
programme.

      Between 1996 and 1998, exports to Zimbabwe's northern neighbour were
on an increasing trend registering US$90,6 million, US$113,1 million and
US$119,6 million in 1996,1997 and 1998 respectively. However, the earnings
tumbled to US$9,2 in 2001.

      "A drastic drop from US$119,6 million in 1998 to US$9,2 million in
2001 is a cause for concern to ZimTrade and indeed everyone in this room,"
said Chawasarira.

      "The preliminary half-year export figure to Zambia for the year 2002
is US$1,8 million. I have doubts that the second half of the year could have
recorded a figure sufficient to make an annual total exceeding the 2001
figure," said Chawasarira.

      Zimbabwe is on the throes of a foreign currency squeeze since the
pullout of international lenders in 1999 citing Harare's failure to tighten
strings on its public purse and the breakdown in the rule of law.

      This was further exacerbated by the wanton disregard of property
rights by rampaging bands of government supporters who invaded private
commercial farms in the name of land hunger.

      * Cape Town - Zimbabwe's drive to redistribute white-owned farms among
landless blacks has failed and is partly to blame for a food crisis
affecting millions of people, a South African parliamentary report said this
week.

      The parliamentary committee report said the programme had "impacted
negatively on food security", although committee chairman Neo Masithela said
the consensus was that the policy itself was sound.

      "Both the opposition and the ruling party and NGOs agree on one thing:
the land reform policy is one of the best programmes. However, the manner in
which it was implemented is the problem," Masithela told Reuters on Friday.

      South Africa, which faces its own political problems over white land
ownership, has said in the past it saw the need for land reform in Zimbabwe
but disagreed with President Robert Mugabe's controversial farm seizure
policy.

      The report by the parliamentary committee on agriculture was compiled
after a visit to Zimbabwe in April.

      Masithela said implementation problems included a lack of skills and
inadequate support from government once new farmers had acquired land.

      He added that Zimbabwean officials said they were in the process of
reviewing the implementation of the programme - which has been sharply
criticised by London and Washington.

      Earlier this month the United Nations said that despite aid efforts
more than five million Zimbabweans faced starvation, a situation exacerbated
by a spiralling economic crisis along with crippling cash and fuel
shortages.

      Mugabe argues that the land reforms were necessary to correct the
wrongs of colonialism, which left the bulk of Zimbabwe's fertile land in the
hands of minority whites.

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Zim Standard

      Government challenged over mounting economic problems
      By Our Own Staff

      BULAWAYO - Government has been challenged by the business and the
civil society in Bulawayo to address existing anomalies in the country that
are creating a gulf between the rich and the poor.

      The call was made at a meeting held recently by the National Economic
Consultative Forum (NECF) at a city hotel in Bulawayo where hundreds of
people, including government and industry leaders, met to discuss the
economic problems affecting the country.

      Hopewell Gumbo of Bulawayo Agenda said the current economic meltdown
was having a knock on effect on the majority of poor Zimbabweans while a few
were benefiting from the crisis.

      "What should be addressed today regarding Zimbabwe's economy is
bridging the gap that exists between the rich and the poor. Government
cannot only concentrate on cushioning the exporting companies while at the
same time it fails to look into the salaries of ordinary workers," Gumbo
said.

      "The business sector must not forget that the salaries of ordinary
Zimbabweans cannot sustain them and they cannot even live on them," he said.
Runaway inflation, estimated at more than 300%, has eroded the salaries of
the few Zimbabweans still able to hold permanent employment. Experts say
hundreds of companies have closed down or been forced to relocate because of
the worsening economic and political crisis.

      Gumbo said ordinary Zimbabweans were now living way below the poverty
datum line while a few individuals are reaping huge profits from the current
economic meltdown.

      He said the government in its bid to revive the economy must not
over-ride this anomaly but should do something to bridge the gap so as to
correct hardships facing the ordinary people.

      "There is no point in addressing some of the economic problems while
the rest of the problems are ignored," Gumbo said.

      He challenged the government to invest in the education sector and
address the current plight of tertiary students in state institutions.
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Zim Standard

      What can Asian economies offer us?


      Economically, socially and culturally, Zimbabwe has very little in
common with the East

      EAST or West - that is the question.

      In its characteristic delusional approach, the ruling party say
Zimbabwe must now turn to Libya, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China and
other supposedly friendly economic powerhouses of the Far East because our
marriage to the imperialist West has broken down irreconcilably.

      But it is the same President Mugabe and his ministers who, during
their numerous trips abroad not that many years ago, would never exclude a
day or two stopover in London. That the President and his government are now
rabidly anti-British and anti-American makes one wonder about the principles
that Mugabe harps on about so much. At every opportunity, the President
pours scorn on our erstwhile colonisers calling current British Prime
Minister a 'gay gangster' and accusing him of a sinister plot to recolonise
Zimbabwe. Ah!

      A concerted government propaganda campaign is in place to inculcate
fear and revulsion in the minds of Zimbabweans of the heinous animal called
"neo-colonialism" which, we are told, is lurking everywhere threatening to
rob us of our hard-won independence and sovereignty. Really?

      The ordinary man in the street cannot be blamed when the distinction
between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred. Why, some may ask,
did the President and his ministers continue to go to London during all
those years knowing, as they must have, that the British were up to no
good-if indeed, they are principled men?

      Yet, the greatest irony of it all is that despite Mugabe's now routine
tirades against the British, United States and the West in general, scores
of Zimbabweans continue to flock to these countries in droves in search of a
better living standard away from their own crumbling country. Why, we might
ask, are Zimbabweans not flocking to the awakening economic giants of the
Far East or Asia if an alternative destination is all that is needed to
escape the tragedy that Zimbabwe is today?

      Many Zimbabweans continue to risk the humiliation and potential loss
of entire life savings by trekking to the UK where hundreds of their
countrymen and women have already been refused entry and deported for
various reasons. Even a prohibitive $118 000, and an increasing visa
application fee, has not dissuaded many Zimbabweans from seeking their
eldorado in either Britain or the United States, and to a lesser extent, in
EU countries.

      It does not need a rocket scientist to figure out why Zimbabweans
generally find a reasonably welcoming environment in Britain, Australia,
Canada and the United States as opposed to, say China, Malaysia or Thailand.
This is not because there is no visible racism or class discrimination in
Britain, North America or Europe -there is plenty of that if one looks for
it.

      Racism or discrimination on the basis of colour, religion, ethnic
background or any other distinguishing differences among human beings has
existed throughout human history - sadly one of the less endearing qualities
of the human character.

      Yes, we can understand that President Mugabe who enjoys close personal
relations with Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad of Malaysia, Col Muammar
Gaddafi of Libya and is welcomed warmly in capitals in Asia and the Far East
in his official capacity, has no idea what life would be like for an
ordinary Zimbabwean visiting those countries. Just as it is increasingly
evident that the Zimbabwean President is so detached from the day-to-day
existence of ordinary Zimbabweans that their daily suffering is beyond his
comprehension.

      We have nothing against the people of China, Malaysia or Thailand. In
fact, we greatly admire Chinese culture and other cultures of South-east
Asia. But we are merely recognising the important fact that for more than a
century, Zimbabwe's political, economic, social, cultural and educational
links have been forged not with the East but with the West. Western values
and traditions have heavily influenced us.

      It is also because in societies such as those obtaining in the British
isles, US, and much of developed Europe, significant progress has been
achieved in overcoming the cultural bigotry that imposes artificial barriers
among human beings that different races intermingle freely without the
tensions and suspicions that one is likely to encounter in more conservative
societies such as those of the Far East. Not only that, thousands of
Zimbabweans received their education and training in Britain, United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand and became accustomed to the cultures and
customs of those countries.

      Whether the Zanu PF politicians want to acknowledge this or not, much
of the technology that drives Zimbabwe's former advanced agriculture,
industry and commerce was adopted from our former colonial mentors, and
increasingly, we are learning that it is only with their assistance, and
support that we can keep it operational.

      Clearly, we have very little in common with say Malaysians, Chinese or
Thais other than that we all are members of the human species and belong to
the developing world. It therefore makes little sense to seek to realign our
economic needs with those of countries which - although more prosperous than
us -are themselves in need of continuous development aid from the West.

      It is also a truism to say many Zimbabweans find it convenient to live
and work in Europe and the United States because there is a historical
affinity arising from a shared history between Africans and their former
colonial masters regardless of the inequities that blighted race relations
in those bygone years.

      Although it is an uncomfortable truth to admit, while the relationship
between a master and servant was clearly abhorrent and despicable, with the
passage of time, an intrinsic interdependency developed between the two to
the extent that one needed the other.

      A microcosm of such a relationships can be found among numerous known
cases in Zimbabwe where strong bonds have developed between white farmers
and their black farm workers, employers and their employees or domestic
workers to the extent that each felt they could not do without the other.

      Such is human nature, whether this conforms to conventional political
ethos is entirely another matter.
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Zim Standard

      Zany, Zanier and Zaniest overthetop
      By Brian Latham

      Last week was perhaps the week that saw a troubled central African
nation plummet into the depths of absurdity. There are no words - at least
not in the English language - to describe the illogical silliness of recent
events.

      And these dark depths have nothing to do with the lunacy of high
politics - or even low politics, which are the natural home of the troubled
central African country's depraved Zany Party.

      No, this has to do with what passes for law, what passes for policing
and what passes for governance in a forlorn and desperate nation.

      Firstly, some crazed loon decided that carrying cash was illegal. As a
result, many people didn't get paid. Concomitantly, the police did rather
well. Many a young Zany constable can look forward to a healthy Christmas
bonus this year, unless, as seems likely, it's all spent long before
Christmas.

      All this was justified, apparently, because a clearly deranged moron
decided that all money belongs to the country's reserve bank.

      It doesn't.

      The truth is that money belongs to the person who has it in his
pocket. Or wheelbarrow.

      Still, that didn't stop the Zany police from helping themselves,
according to some rather angry people who told Over The Top that they'd been
deprived of their well-earned millions. It seems the plan is to outlaw
wealth except among members of the Zany Party or people in uniform, though
as disillusionment with the Zany Party takes grip, the two are increasingly
synonymous.

      Meanwhile in another loony toons move, the Zany Party outlawed the
carrying of petrol in containers. One observer pointed out that it is only a
matter of time before the police cotton on to the idea that a fuel tank is
also a container and fuel is banned altogether - except for members of the
Zany Party.

      Now... there is very little petrol or diesel in the troubled central
African hellhole. That's because daft and daffy Zany economists have for
years subscribed to the North Korean belief that it's clever to sell things
for less than they cost.

      The rest of us know that down that path lies penury, poverty and a
great deal of discomfort of the sort being experienced in North Korea and
the troubled central African banana republic. Not so the glorious leaders of
these vanguard states. In the face of millions of people subsisting on a
diet of grass seed and roots, they continue to defy logic, common sense and
the rest of the world.

      But there is a grand plan behind the seemingly moronic system. (And
it's worth pointing out that all systems dreamt up by socialists are
moronic.) That plan is to send the entire population of the troubled central
African state to work on bicycles.

      Fuelled by romantic images of millions of diminutive Chinamen peddling
to work dressed in identical unisex black pyjamas, the Zany Party has
forgotten one fundamental, achingly important fact: there is no work in the
troubled central African cesspit. And no one can afford a bicycle.

      Besides, bicycles are ludicrous contraptions and the very fact that
socialists have a love affair with the graceless, uncomfortable machines is
all the reason anyone needs for refusing to buy one.

      Not that many people in the troubled central African nation can afford
even a Chinese bicycle, which is proof that every cloud has a silver lining.
Not only is it embarrassing to be seen riding such a silly thing, it is also
sinful to give money to socialists.

      And that, of course, brings us full circle. Next time a socialist Zany
cop demands your dosh, poke him in the eye. And if he demands your petrol,
make sure it goes with a box of matches as well. If you can afford a box of
matches, that is, because after what you've paid for the petrol chances are
you're as broke as I am.

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Zim Standard

      No end to Zimbabwe's madness
      Sundaytalk with Pius Wakatama

      MY friend, who owns a petrol service station phoned me the other day.
When I heard his voice joy flooded my heart! I thought he was going to tell
me to come over in a hurry because he was going to receive a delivery of
petrol. I said to him: "Have you finally got good news?"

      "No," he answered, "I just want to lift your spirits with a joke going
around the pubs."

      My heart sank into its usual despondency again. A joke-who wants to
hear a joke when our beloved country is falling apart, I said to myself.

      However, I decided that since he was in a more desperate situation
than myself, the joke should be really good. You see, he has not received
any petrol to sell for the last two months. At the same time, he has to pay
rent for the place. He is now having to dip into his personal savings to pay
the rent as well as his employees. In order to stay afloat, he had to
retrench some of his faithful petrol pump attendants.

      "Tell me the joke," I said, trying to sound jovial, even though my
heart was heavy.

      Have you heard that our Minister of Information and Publicity,
Jonathan Moyo almost drowned in Lake Kariba.

      "Yes, I heard it in The Herald," I answered.

      "Well, it is said he actually fell into the water. But he is so
disliked in Zimbabwe, even in Zanu PF, that even the ferocious Zambezi
crocodiles turned up their noses at him.

      "When one young hungry crocodile started to go for him, its mother
restrained it saying, 'Son, you will eat that one at your own peril. If you
don't die outright, you will have a bad stomach ache'."

      To tell you the truth, I laughed so much at this joke that for some
time I forgot that we did not have petrol in our car and that my wife would
have to wait in a commuter omnibus queue for an hour or more to get home
from work that evening'."

      My mirth was short-lived, however. It ended after I opened The Herald
and read that the government had banned the carrying of petrol in
containers. Where should it be carried, I wondered. In one's mouth?

      Yes, the madness in Zimbabwe still continues. First, it was made
illegal to sell one's own grain to whoever wanted it at a mutually agreed
price as happens in free and civilised countries. One was required, by law,
to sell it only to the ill-paying and corrupt Grain Marketing Board.

      Then it became illegal to store one's own grain for future use or to
transport it to starving relatives in other parts of the country.

      In our crazy country, it is also illegal to change one's legally
obtained foreign currency with one's neighbour who wants to leave the
prevailing madness for the happy land of the "gay gangsters". It does not
matter to the authorities that the stipulated bank rates are ridiculous,
unreal and totally unreasonable.

      A few weeks ago it was made illegal to keep one's own hard earned
cash. The government now calls it hoarding. A rather silly looking minister
had the temerity to tell the public on television that the government now
owned all the money in Zimbabwe. Doesn't this take the cake?

      As far as I know, the government does not create any wealth. All it
does is take from hard-working citizens through unreasonable taxes and all
kinds of levies and spend as though any kind of thrift was sinful.

      The silly looking minister might delude himself into believing that
government owns all the money in Zimbabwe, but he definitely does not own
mine. Nobody owns my money but myself-and my wife, of course.

      Very soon our crazy government is going to decree that it is illegal
to make any kind of profit through business unless one is a card-carrying
Zanu PF member. It seems as though these are even exempted from laws against
black marketeering, corruption and even violence.

      By passing innumerable petty laws which actually infringe on the basic
freedoms of the people, the government is only succeeding in opening more
avenues for police corruption.

      All the anti-black marketeering laws have failed to work because one
would need twenty times the number of policemen we have to be able to deal
with the number of offenders. This would still not work because our police
now have a culture of corruption and bribery. Anyway, these laws are only
attempting to address the symptoms of a deeper malaise.

      One would have thought that by now our erstwhile leaders in government
would have realised that the ship of State has a hole bigger than the one
which almost sank Moyo's house boat on Lake Kariba. In fact, Zimbabwe is now
half submerged.

      Our much maligned but resilient private sector, reputable economic
analysts and a few sane Zanu PF leaders have stated over and over that we
cannot survive without external donor and investor support. This, of course,
hinges on the attitude of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
towards us. The rest of the international community takes their cue from
them. Unfortunately, and unwisely, we continue to to tell these
organisations to go hang.

      Instead of listening to good advice and putting in place those
political and economic fundamentals which would ensure international support
for Zimbabwe, our leaders are, like Don Quixote, fighting windmills.

      They have clearly shown that they are not interested in the welfare of
the people. All they are interested in is extending their hold on power for
as long as they can even if it means intimidating, harassing and beating up
people into submission.

      According to the warped thinking of the ruling Zanu PF clique, they
have a right to rule this country in any way they see fit because they have
fought for it. The fact that the people voted for them because they believed
Zanu PF has their interests at heart is lost on them.

      They believe participation in the war of liberation gave them the
right to rule until they die. Well, they have another think coming. The
people are saying clearly and loudly, "Enough is enough."

      He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE
COMPENSATION/RESTITUTION COMMUNIQUÉ - July 2, 2003

Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOSS DOCUMENT FACILITATORS

The matter of full compensation to farmers for what they have lost as a
result of the fast track resettlement programme is very clear. The farmer
has the right to claim according to the law of Zimbabwe and International
law.

Before farmers can initiate this process there are certain responsibilities
that they have to be aware of. Farmers will only be compensated if they
submit a claim for what they have lost.

Certain formats and procedures exist that have to followed to document and
present the facts. The Valuation Certificate from the Valuators Consortium
is vital and will form part of the final document and will represent
approximately 40% of the total amount due to the farmer.

To assist farmers to fill in their claims in the prescribed format we have
trained 18 facilitators throughout the country that are ready to assist you
from the 1st July 2003.

All farmers are urged to have the process completed by the end of November
2003. This will assist us to process the information and to initiate the
first step in the International arena by the 1st February 2004. The sooner
negotiations take place the sooner compensation will be received.

For the purpose of this exercise there is no difference between farmers
that are still on the farm and those that have had to leave their farms.
All farmers have suffered and have the right to claim. At no stage will any
names or details of farmers be revealed. There will be no discrimination as
a result of affiliation.

Farmers will be charged on a cost recovery basis, according to a prescribed
format, by the facilitators. On completion each farmer will have a
completed document in hand that remains his personal property.

This document will contain details of all losses suffered by the farmer and
will serve to represent him during all future negotiations and legal
procedures.

The information on the central database will be used during negotiations on
behalf of all farmers but will not reveal any of your personal information.

Your information will be treated as confidential and your rights will be
protected and respected at all times. The following are a list of numbers
you can dial in the various centres.

Bulawayo: 091 236 317
Chiredzi: 011 609 823, 011 425 056, 031 2675, 031 2638, 031 3337
Kadoma: 011 208 767, 068 245 74, 068 235 15
Harare: 04 499 783, 04 494 837, 04 883 399, 091 234 876, 04 735 217
Marondera: 011 611 298, 079 239 23
Mutare: 020 63651

If farmers have no facilitators in their areas please contact me at 011 207
860 or the JAG office and we can put you in touch with the right people or
organise a one day course to train people for your area.

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